Other destinations

Understand

When the Portuguese first arrived in Brazil (April 22nd 1500) they landed on the soil today known as Bahia. In Portuguese (Brazil's Official Language) the word "bay" is translated "baia". Salvador, Bahia's capital, was founded by Portuguese explorers in 1549. The city lays on a peninsula located in between "All Saints Bay" and the Atlantic Ocean. Every time people talked about Salvador, they referred to it as, "the province with the bay in it". Later on, the province would be officially named "The Province of Bahia" (the province of the bay). The spelling of the word "bay" (baia) was changed in order to make the province's name unique. Salvador-Bahia became Brazil's first capital back when the country was one of Portugal's colonies, and remained like that for 214 years (until it was transferred to Rio, and finally to Brasilia).

Talk

Bahians, like all Brazilians, speak Portuguese. The accent, however, is completely different.
Today due to tourism expansion there are some people who speak English in touristic areas & hotels, but since foreign languages are not taught in the schooling system you would be wise to bring a small travel dictionary.

See

Itineraries

The Bay of All Saints, beautiful seen from Salvador, can also be seen from a tourist boat that makes a trip through the bay, passing several Islands. The largest island is Itaparica. It can be reached in about 1 hour by ferry from Salvador. The smaller passenger-ferry departs from near the Mercado Modelo to , while the larger car-ferry goes from about 2km North of here to Bom Despacho

On the Coconut coast the sea turtle preservation project at Praia do Forte is a very impressive sight.

In October, whales can be seen alongside the whole coast, but the marine reserve on the Whale Coast is the pinnacle.

In the Chapada Diamantina, the Fumaça waterfall and the caves are very impressive

Do

Trekking through the Chapada Diamantina. With a guide, stay with locals while hiking through the park for several days.